New Delhi, March 9 Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday underscored the importance of aerospace medicine, calling it critical for dealing with challenges such as micro-gravity, radiation, and isolation faced by a human being in space.
“Whether it is an issue related to neurons, bone loss or mental problems, it is the responsibility of aerospace and space medicine to tackle these challenges. The field must prepare itself for bigger responsibilities in the future,” he said while visiting the Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM) of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in Bengaluru.
Rajnath Singh, who is the first Defence Minister to visit the institute, was briefed about the unique role of IAM in pilot training, their medical evaluation and aeromedical research.
The Defence Minister highlighted the growing need for expertise in aerospace medicine in view of the continuous increase in air and space traffic.
“From the defence perspective, space has emerged as a major domain in warfare. We have taken a step forward in this direction and mastered the most advanced technologies such as anti-satellite,” he said.
The Defence Minister said that India has also become the fastest-growing aviation market in the world. “As we are touching new heights in space, we need to explore more possibilities in aerospace medicine. There is a need for increased R&D as research in any high-end complex technology provides benefits to many fields,” he said.
Rajnath Singh inspected the Dynamic Flight Simulator and High Performance Human Centrifuge used for high-G training of fighter pilots and the Spatial Disorientation Simulator for training the pilots of the Armed Forces to avert the risk of spatial disorientation in flight.
He also launched the Indian Council of Medical Research Extramural Research Project: Centre for Advanced Research at the institute. The title of the project is ‘Space Psychology: Selection and Behavioural Health Training of Astronauts & Astronaut Designates for Indian Space Missions’.
Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C), Training Command, Air Marshal Nagesh Kapoor, Director General Medical Services (Air) Air Marshal Sandeep Thareja, and other senior officers of IAF accompanied the Defence Minister during the visit.
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